I Just Couldn't Say NO!!!

[Poohlove]

It looks as though we will be going back to sunny Florida! After our last trip (which was fun, don't get me wrong but less than enchanting) I had real doubts about returning to Disney. From time to time I will poke around here on the DIS and see what's new and I have to tell you, the thought of planning every iota of my day 6 months in advance is less than appealing. I am a planner from way back but planning right on down to the ride we want to go on 6 months from now at 3-4pm takes a bit of the thrill out of a vacation BUT... I have done a 180. Let me tell you how it happened.

I am a single mom of 2 FANTASTIC teenage children. DS is 16, will be 17 in days - and driving. DD is 14, will be 15 in a few weeks. We recently sold our smaller house and bought a larger house which make everything larger except for our vacation budget. With my DS rapidly approaching his senior year in high school and my daughter not far behind I decided we should take one kick a** vacation this summer and of course Florida was the big winner. The details have been a little slower to come together. Airfare would have been around $800 for the three of us, driving was an option - there would be two licensed drivers after all but DD wasn't thrilled about spending that kind of time in the car. What dates would we go? Then there are the accommodations, food, entertainment, etc.

So I began the legwork, after all I am an obsessive planner at heart. I have decided that this trip I would do take a more relaxed stance when it comes to the planning but still research and arm myself with all of the information, etc that I might possibly need and make the most informed, practical decisions possible while maintaining a relaxed pace. I am confident that I can pull this off. A month ago not so much, but I recently travelled to New Hampshire for the weekend without so much as a packing list on account of being sick for two weeks before going, it was like a trial run - I can do this!!!

I made our first major decision a few days ago when after receiving an email from Southwest I did some
exploring and scored us round trip airfare from Philadelphia to Orlando for $300 - for all 3 of us!!! By default that made our second decision of when. I knew that I needed to be after the last day of school, I picked the dates after that with the lowest airfare and VOILA!!!

Now the rest, I am waiting to see what the next few months bring in the way of discounts to make our room ressies. In the meantime I need to read up on the new Fastpass system and much more. Any help with how that all works would me much appreciated!!!

 

[Poohlove]

We have been discussing different places we may want to eat this time around. I don't want to plan our activities around dining reservations so I think that we may do a lot of quick service with some table service reservations sprinkled here and there. Boma for breakfast is a MUST DO for our family. Chef Mickey's breakfast is up there also, we would do quick service while at Epcot but HS seems to have very limited dining options. I was thinking that on our HS day we would eat somewhere in the Boardwalk area and then head to the park and the just get snacks while there if the spirit moves us. What are your favorite dining options for your Hollywood Studios day?

 

[Newsies]

First off- hi there! I'm so glad you're going back to WDW! Allow me to be the first to "watch" this thread, I can't wait to hear about your family trip Sounds like it's going to be magical!

As far as the DHS question goes, I would definitely book an ADR for dinner at the 50's Prime Time Cafe. So much fun and it'll ensure you're in the park close enough to watch Fantasmic!

Where are you all staying?

 

[Poohlove]

Thank you for joining in!!! We haven't decided where to stay just yet, I am kind of holding out to see what discounts may come out before I try to decide. I was thinking we might try to stay a day or two off property to go see the beaches and that sort of thing. We are not too far from the beaches in New Jersey but Florida beaches look like so much fun.

Thank you for the suggestion, I have read about the 50s Prime Time Café and being right there for Fantasmic is a bonus! A successful visit to HS is high up on our list this trip. We are determined to make it onto TSM this time!!!

 

[Poohlove]

Well, we have our first dining reservation. Don't know where we will stay, but I know where we will eat the morning we arrive Our flight lands at 8:10am and we have decided to rent a car so after we pick that up we will head out to our first dining reservation - breakfast at 1900 Park Fare.

I have the park hours (as they are now) for our dates in June (16-23) and I am going to start forming a tentative plan. From what I have read it seems like the week we are visiting the World the crowds might be kind of high. Travelling with 2 teens there will probably not be many early mornings in the cards and I would like to work in a day or two at the water parks.

As for park tickets, I am thinking that I am going to splurge on the water park and more with park hoppers. Our touring style tends to be that we sleep in a bit, grab some breakfast/lunch and then head out to explore. Since the weather will be on the warmer side I want to allow some flexibility to head back to our room to freshen up/nap and take a break, have some dinner then head back out to close the parks

Does anyone have any tips or tricks to dealing with heat, humidity and crowds?

 

[Poohlove]

Sorry it's been a while (for those of you who are even reading) I have had quite a bit going on the last two weeks. Both of my kids had birthdays -DS got his driver's license. I thought I was a worry wart before

After much anticipation of the expiration of the stay and play deal, I went online this morning only to see that is has been extended until March 28th... I have to wait a whole 5 more weeks at least to see what comes out next!!! I am hoping that in the meantime a cardholder offer will come out. I don't want to make too many more plans until I know what our accommodations will be as I am still considering staying offsite a few nights as opposed to taking a couple of day trips but I am chomping at the bit to get things going!!! To pass the time I am going to come up with a wishlist of things that we would like to do, places to eat, etc. I will post them as I go.